Forbes has published its list of 100 Most Powerful Women for 2012, with Angela Merkel on top, recognizing the achievements and contributions of women from all around the world. The list, edited by editor Mary Ellen Egan, is based on economic impact and visibility of leading women around the globe and all walks of life.

Over the past decade, women have achieved everything from hottest celebrity in the fashion world to head of state. To tribute female contribution, let’s have a look at some of the most influential women from Forbes’ list of 100 Most Powerful Women.

Angela Merkel: Angela Merkel is at top of the list for second consecutive year. She was also in the top spot from 2007 to 2009. She lost rank in 2010, a hot year for Michelle Obama, who topped the list, replacing the German power-woman.

Angela Merkel is the first female chancellor of Germany, an honor that speaks for itself. She is only the second woman to chair the G8. She has been president of the European Council and came in at number 4 on Forbes’ list of Most Powerful People in the World.

Angela Merkel is one of the most influential women to ever live. She’s seen as playing a crucial role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level, and has been referred to a “the de facto leader of the European Union”. She has received various awards and prizes including the Vision for Europe Award, the Charlemagne Prize, the Leo Baeck Medal, and the B’nail B’rith Europe Award of Merit.

Hillary Clinton: Hillary Clinton is comes in at the number two spot on Forbes list of 100 Most Powerful Women. She is among the most influential women of the last decade, inspiring hundreds of women around the world.

Hillary Clinton went to Yale Law School where she remained on the Board of Editors of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action. It was Yale where she met future president Bill Clinton and started dating him.

Not only did Hillary Clinton play a significant role as first-lady in the mid-90′s, in the last decade she’s made influential decisions as Senator and later Secretary of State, a position she currently holds.

Dilma Rouseff: Dilam Rousseff is Brazilian president and the first woman to hold this position in the country. She is a powerful president, bringing many corrupt government officials to justice. Today, many people believe that Brazil is on its way to becoming a leading world economy – most credit to Dilma Rouseff for embarking the country along the correct path. She has made decisions that powerful men in the country were afraid to make.

Early on in her life, Dilma was involved in an armed struggle supporting Marxism, however, she later changed her views, stopping support of Marxism and all military regimes.

Other powerhouses on the list include tech mavens Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo. One the list are also Sonia Gandhi from India, Melinda Gates, Michelle Obama, Janet Napolitano, Oprah Winfrey, and Lady Gaga. These women have proved over the years that we don’t live in a mans world. Women with gusto, the right attitude and a passion for achievements can easily lead the way.

First trending we have “RIP Justin Bieber.” Then later, “Ask Steve Jobs.” Twitter kills people who are still alive and asks questions of those that are dead.

Windows 8

Windows 8 comes out this fall and the buzz keeps building! As most people know, it will run on both desktops and tablets, and offer touch screen capabilities and use tiles instead of the dreaded Microsoft start menu. New Windows 8 tablets are expected from all the major hardware manufacturers (Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, HP and Lenovo). We could also see a new crop of tablet-laptop combination devices, sporting Windows 8. The operating system might also work with the new Windows phones expected out later this year. The key for Microsoft is whether it can create a mobile experience for the desktop and can linking mobile devices with traditional desktops give it an edge in each of these markets? I think at the enterprise level, Windows 8 may help Microsoft protect its current customer base and stop the migration to Mac. But will it take off with consumers? I think that’s less likely. People love the iPad –no other tablets have succeeded but the iPad– and even Android is losing ground to the iPhone.

FaceBook IPO Troubles

I reported earlier about the long anticipated Facebook IPO, which took place on Friday. What happened next has turned into nothing short of a debacle. It all started with a Nasdaq glitch; early this week some brokerages were still unsure if their orders had closed, or at what price. Those traders that took losses because of the glitch are still waiting to hear what Nasdaq plans to do about compensating them. Lawsuit #1.

Totally separate from the Nasdaq issues, there’s a regulatory investigation beginning into how Facebook and its bankers handled sensitive financial information that was “selectively disclosed” to big banks ahead of the IPO. Lawsuit #2.

So why has the stock price fallen so much? Some market watchers are saying that Nasdaq’s glitch and other technical trading issues are contributing factors. But others attribute the demise to the IPO itself, which was remarkably high given Facebook’s financial fundamentals. All of the drama around Facebook’s IPO may have some investors taking a very close look at the company — and thinking twice about what its stock is really worth. The big question I have with Facebook, is could the stock take down the rest of the tech sector? Is it enough to “pop the bubble,” so to speak? Comparisons between today’s Internet IPO valuations and the Dotcom boom in the late 1990s have been coming for months now; and while they’re not the same, like any investment trend, they depend on strong investor confidence. Once investors lose confidence in a flagship company, that uncertainty could soon infect other industry brands as well, however unrelated. Facebook could end up blowing us away, of course. They’ve been criticized for being overvalued, and the P/E was at 100 – but remember that Apple’s IPO valuation in 1980 had a P/E ratio of 92. So there is a precedent for succeeding even with a massive valuation compared to actual revenue. I think to succeed, however, Facebook may have to change its attitude -especially toward consumer data. It may have to mine more. It will definitely have to do better on advertising, and mobile advertising is the key. But other approaches shouldn’t be taken off the table -like creating premium subscriptions and the like (think LinkedIn).

Mobile Advertising Challenges

Facebook will need to make some serious cash in the years ahead; while ads will account for a portion of projected revenue growth, in the ad space, Facebook simply isn’t completing well with giants like Google. Facebook will need to look to Apps (i.e. social games like Farmville) for new revenue streams. After all, as compared to ads, there are only so many ads that can be crammed onto a tiny mobile screen. Mobile advertising challenges will be largely driven by Facebook’s massive revenue demands, so I’m excited to see what new startups will end up playing a role in that. Could we see more private equity going into smart mobile advertising solutions? I definitely think so. And I think we could also see more acquisitions in this space occurring as well, from a lot of big brands.

Microsoft So.cl

Microsoft So.cl is being dubbed a “Bing Bulletin Board.” The new social sharing concept debuted this week as a possible rival to Facebook. So.cl looks to me like a hybrid of Bing Search, Pinterest and Facebook. Some have asked whether it’s the next Facebook (suggesting it might become a replacement). If Facebook invented what is modern day social media, why are people looking toward a gen-2 Facebook replacement? Facebook does what it does well. A competitor needs to INVENT something new to draw users away from something that is free and works well. We should look towards new tech startups (like Facebook once was — when it invented its own genre of technology). I am sure Microsoft understands it won’t know Facebook out so easily, since as of right now, users can only sign in to So.cl though their Facebook or Windows Live accounts. I’m not sure that I see So.cl succeeding at all. Google+ (a.k.a. Google c+) is having a hard enough time, and they have Google Search and the Android platform to support them. How can Microsoft even hope to succeed? I think the real direction for social networks today is one-to-one networking and private networks, sites that keep your information private. We’ve seen a bunch of these startups recently like Path, Pair, Cupple, Everyme and Sgrouples.

What does the Kleiner Perkins Lawsuit mean for Women in tech?

Women in tech is an issue that’s simmered for years – but it just got a lot hotter with a sexual harrassment lawsuit against the legendary VC firm Kleiner Perkins, by a former partner. The female investment partner claims she suffered multiple instances of sexual harassment, retaliation and sexual and gender discrimination over the past six years. Out of 50 people on its investment and operations teams, Kleiner employs 12 women, according to the firm’s website. These figures reflect that Kleiner is more gender-diverse than the venture capital industry as a whole, which is dominated by men, especially white men. I don’t think this suit can be marked as a clear reflection of the way women are treated in Silicon Valley or the technology space as a whole; it looks to me like an isolated incident. But nonetheless, this is terrible press for a company that, on the surface, has been trying to maintain gender diversity.

Are women treated differently in tech? It’s a hot topic of debate on SheBytes! For whatever reason, the majority of people in tech are men (or boys) and that’s definitely driven the culture. I don’t believe women are excluded from success in tech, but I think the fraternal nature of the industry might make it harder to network and gain notice. On the other hand, being a standout in a sea of men can also work in a woman’s favor; it depends how she plays it. We have some great role models out there with Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), Meg Whitman (HP), Marissa Mayer (Google), etc., who have done it right!

Levo league, a new wave of women, takes on on the challenge of equal pay.

On April 17th, President Obama proclaimed – National Equal Pay Day, calling Americans to recognize the full value of women’s skills, their contribution to the work force, acknowledge the injustice of wage discrimination, and join efforts to achieve equal pay.

Make some noise generation Y ladies! National Equal Pay Day has defiantly broken the glass ceiling, right? Well, not exactly.

Sad to say, not all companies have taken recognition to the ‘end of inequality.’ Levo League aims to change that.

Led by “Chief Inpir/Instig-ation Officer,” Amanda Pouchot, Levo League offers a unique support system for women of all stages in their career. Composed as a social network, the league helps format and lead women into their careers, allowing them to break through the glass ceiling via personal and professional support.

Women power the economy and sustain our middle class. According to a White House Press Release “For millions of families across our country, women’s wages mean food on the table, decent medical care, and timely mortgage payments. Yet, in 2010 — 47 years after President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 — women who worked full-time earned only 77 percent of what their male counterparts did … National Equal Pay Day represents the date in the current year through which women must work to match what men earned in the previous year, reminding us that we must keep striving for an America where everyone gets an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work.”

Just recently the Levo Leauge has initiated the hashtags #ASK4MORE, and #EQUALPAY. The goal is for women to earn more in salary within the next 20 years. For example, in order to earn $150K* in the next 20 years you’ll need to ask for a raise of 8.38% each year, which is a raise of only $1.26 more an hour. (*Based on a 40-hour work week and 50 weeks worked a year.)

Levo League has lots of support and it’s not just from the White House. Other supporters who are backing up this startup include Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

The Levo Leauge is more than empowering –it’s a home base for progressive women. LOVE IT!

A panel of young female entrepreneurs weighs in on women in technology; the challenges of being a female entrepreneur in the male-dominated tech industry.

Scott Gerber (@askgerber), founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council and author of ‘Never Get a Real Job,’ assembled a panel of young female entrepreneurs to weigh in on the challenges of being a female entrepreneur in the male-dominated tech industry. The panel came up with 7 seriously awesome tips that reflect my line of thinking on the matter.

Women in technology are sparse. As it stands, only 3% of ALL tech firms are founded by women (source: Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa), visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, tech researcher & entrepreneur).

So from one female entrepreneur to another female entrepreneur, what are the challenges women in technology face, and what could help eliminate some of those barriers? Here’s what Scott Gerber’s panel shared on Mashable:

2. Sharing is Key: Amanda Aitken (@AmandaAitken) of The Girl’s Guide to Web Design says that women who want to register for a course or launch a startup should share how they feel with friends and colleagues. There’s a misconception that “only men are doing it.” But if women talked about it more, it may give other women permission to dive in.

3. See the Glass as Half Full: Thursday Bram (@ThursdayB) of Hyper Modern Consulting highlights that although, traditionally, there has been a dearth of women in technology, as of late, we’ve seen a rapid incline in growth. According to Bloomberg, women are tech savvy! Thursday suggests we look to the future rather than focus on the past. I agree!

4. Develop Access to Capital: Women founders can find it more difficult to raise funding for their businesses. The statistics show that less than 20 percent of female-led ventures get funding, which is much lower than the statistics for men. That said, Doreen Bloch (@DoreenBloch) of Poshly Inc. (@LivePoshly) recommends several great organizations that are actively helping women reach their funding goals, including Women 2.0 (@Women2) and Astia (@AstiaNYC).

5. Be Yourself: When Lauren Friese (@TalentEgg) of TalentEgg Inc. started her business, not only was she a woman in the tech industry, but she was also very young (only 24). She shares that she learned early on that her biggest strength was her ability to be herself. She says “I didn’t pretend to be older than I was, or have more experience than I had. I also didn’t try to emulate men in my industry. I was just me, and I never listened to any commentary regarding the barriers that I was supposedly facing by being a young woman in technology.”

6. Having Some Chutzpah: Nathalie Lussier (@NathLussier) of Nathalie Lussier Media shares that women need to have some chutzpah (Yiddish for ‘guts’). Once women “start getting their hands dirty in the tech world, there’s no stopping them.”

7. Find Mentors: Natalie MacNeil (@NatalieMacNeil) of She Takes on the World shared that only one in five professional women have had a mentor. It’s surprising since many of the female tech powerhouses, like Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, often discusses how important mentors have been in her career. Natalie says “When looking for a mentor, I think it’s good to seek out males and females… it’s good to have a male perspective [too]. Personally, my male and female mentors push me and challenge me in different ways, and I really appreciate that.”

All around great advice from some serious movers and shakers in the technology entrepreneurship space. If you want to learn more about the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), a nonprofit organization that promotes youth entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment, follow the hash tag (#FixYoungAmerica).